The Paths of Life

December 9, 2022

Acts. 2:28 - You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.

Today’s scripture has Peter talking to a crowd in Jerusalem who have come to celebrate Pentecost. David wrote these words 1000s of years before Peter quoted them here and we just talked about them on Tuesday this week in Psalm 16:11!  David had prophesied in the verse right before that in Psalm 16:10 that God would raise the Messiah from the dead, and that even death would not separate him from fellowship with the Lord. So the people who had gathered were familiar with these words from scripture.

So in today’s scripture, Peter is explaining that because of Jesus’ resurrection, we have hope. That God provides the way of life. 

Here we are, a couple thousand years later, we can say the same about the presence of God.  We SEE His presence in Christ Jesus. We FEEL His presence in the Holy Spirit and we HEAR His presence by the Words of the Father. These human senses allow us to experience the joy that is only present to its fullest when we are walking with Him, or as David expressed, living "the ways of life" - authentic life in the kingdom of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Why do we ignore this gift when we get too busy? Why do some resist the gift altogether? We need to purposely and intentionally seek this joy every day. It can be as simple as closing your eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and refocusing.  Or asking God to trade your anxiety for His peace. Or leaving the situation for a few minutes, returning with a new attitude.